I take a step toward her, only to come to an abrupt stop when she moves the blade to Maisie’s throat. My brain struggles to come up with a way out of this that doesn’t get Maisie more hurt than she already is, or worse, get her killed, but I’m at a loss. Lana is in complete control, and I see the moment she realizes that I know it.
Only she’s so focused on me that she doesn’t see the slight twitch of Maisie’s brow as she begins to come to, the drug Lana gave her wearing off.
In an instant, I change tactics.
“You know what, do it.” I shrug. “Slit her throat. You’d be doing me a favor.”
“Lies.” She hisses, pressing the blade harder in Maisie’s skin, tiny beads of blood bubbling forward.
It takes everything I have not to react.
“You know me, Lana. I’m only in it for one thing. What makes you think I care what happens to her? I’m only trying to protect you from yourself.”
“Protect me.” She balks.
“You know I care about you. I’ve always cared about you. We can start over, you know. We can leave this place behind and be together the way you’ve always wanted. Just you and me.”
“You’re lying.”
“No, I’m finally admitting the truth. That I love you, Lana. I’ve loved you since the first moment I saw you, and it scared me so much I’ve spent every minute since then running from it.”
I see the instant the lie sticks. See her desperation to believe it. And I know I chose right in my assumption that, at the end of the day, all she really wants is me. The press of her knife to Maisie’s throat eases, her grip loosening.
“I knew it.” Her eyes light up. “I knew you loved me.”
“You were right.”
“We belong together.”
“I know that. I’ve always known it. I was just... scared.” I take a tentative step toward her. “Come with me. We can leave this place. Together.”
The next set of events happens so fast, I barely have time to react.
The door behind me opens with so much force, it slams against the wall behind it. A red-faced Char emerges at thesame time that Maisie grabs hold of Lana’s hand, forcing the knife away from her throat while she wrestles her for it, even though her movements are weak and sluggish, the full effect of the drugs having not yet worn off.
I rush toward the two of them and tackle Lana to the ground. We hit the concrete hard, all the air leaving my lungs the instant we land. Pain shoots through my abdomen, but I’m too busy trying to restrain Lana to think too much of it.
Forcing her to her stomach, I jerk her arms behind her back, holding them there as I look over my shoulder in time to see Char pull Maisie upright, her hand cupping her injured cheek.
That’s when I remember the pain in my stomach. Looking down, the world tilts sideways when I see Lana’s knife protruding from my stomach.
Looking back at Maisie and Char, I see the moment they realize that I’m injured. See the panic that widens Maisie’s eyes as she stumbles toward me, having yet to regain her strength. And then, like a light switch being flipped, the world goes black.
